Baseball

Former Dons Julian Barzilli and Andy Peterson were drafted this weekend in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. Peterson, who played for the Santa Ana College baseball team in 2011 and 2012, was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 27th round out of Oregon State University while Barzilli, a member of the 2011 squad, was selected in the 31st round by the St. Louis Cardinals out of Whittier College.

The 801st overall pick, Peterson was drafted after two years at Oregon State. He started all 119 games he played in while batting .289 with 13 doubles, two triples and 42 RBI. He was also a member of the 2013 OSU squad that made it to the College World Series.

As a Don, Peterson was a two-time, First-Team All-Orange Empire Conference selection while helping SAC to the 2011 State Championships. The Dons were 64-19 in Peterson's two seasons and won the 2011 Orange Empire Conference Championship.

In his freshman season, Peterson was second on the team with a .376 batting average while leading the team with 27 walks and 17 stolen bases. He followed that season up by leading the team with a .426 batting average his sophomore year while hitting 10 doubles, one triple and accumulating 25 RBI.

Barzilli, who was teammates with Peterson during the 2011 season, was taken as the 945th pick. After transferring to Sacramento State University from SAC, Barzilli transferred again, this time to Whittier College, where he played two seasons.

As a Poet, Barzilli hit .346 in his two seasons at Whittier with 23 doubles, seven triples and 25 home runs. His standout season was his latest when he hit .390 as a senior with eight doubles, three triples and 17 home runs while being named the ABCA All-West Region Player of the Year.

At Santa Ana, Barzilli appeared in 17 games while making seven starts. Three of his six hits were doubles while another was a homerun to go along with six RBI.